San Gabriel Valley Digest

Pasadena : Youth to Be Charged as an Adult

Tony Kim, a 17-year-old Temple City High School student accused of killing three people last Aug. 1, will be charged as an adult. Judge Eric E. Younger made the ruling last week in Pasadena Juvenile Court, where Kim earlier had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitchel J. Harris said the gravity of the crimes Kim is accused of and the fact that he will turn 18 in December were the major legal factors in seeking to have him prosecuted as an adult. Harris said a new criminal complaint will be filed and Kim will be arraigned in Municipal Court, but no court date has been set.

Kim is accused of using a hammer last Aug. 1 to bludgeon to death (Peter) Jae Whan Chung, 17, (John) Jae Hung Chung, 14, and Boc Sil Kim, 58. The slayings, which took place at the Chungs' home, are alleged to have occurred during a confrontation over football pads Kim had reportedly loaned to the older Chung boy, Harris said. Boc Sil Kim was the boys' grandmother.